Real-time plasma state monitoring and supervisory control on TCV

In ITER and DEMO, various control objectives related to plasma control must be simultaneously achieved by the plasma control system (PCS), in both normal operation as well as off-normal conditions. The PCS must act on off-normal events and deviations from the target scenario, since certain sequences (chains) of events can precede disruptions. It is important that these decisions are made while maintaining a coherent prioritization between the real-time control tasks to ensure high-performance operation. In this paper, a generic architecture for task-based integrated plasma control is proposed. The architecture is characterized by the separation of state estimation, event detection, decisions and task execution among different algorithms, with standardized signal interfaces. Central to the architecture are a plasma state monitor and supervisory controller. In the plasma state monitor, discrete events in the continuous-valued plasma state are modeled using finite state machines. This provides a high-level representation of the plasma state. The supervisory controller coordinates the execution of multiple plasma control tasks by assigning task priorities, based on the finite states of the plasma and the pulse schedule. These algorithms were implemented on the TCV digital control system and integrated with actuator resource management and existing state estimation algorithms and controllers. The plasma state monitor on TCV can track a multitude of plasma events, related to plasma current, rotating and locked neoclassical tearing modes, and position displacements. In TCV experiments on simultaneous control of plasma pressure, safety factor profile and NTMs using electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (ECCD), the supervisory controller assigns priorities to the relevant control tasks. The tasks are then executed by feedback controllers and actuator allocation management. This work forms a significant step forward in the ongoing integration of control capabilities in experiments on TCV, in support of tokamak reactor operation

Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution

Integrating the plasma core performance with an edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) that leads to tolerable heat and particle loads on the wall is a major challenge. The new European medium size tokamak task force (EU-MST) coordinates research on ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), MAST and TCV. This multi-machine approach within EU-MST, covering a wide parameter range, is instrumental to progress in the field, as ITER and DEMO core/pedestal and SOL parameters are not achievable simultaneously in present day devices. A two prong approach is adopted. On the one hand, scenarios with tolerable transient heat and particle loads, including active edge localised mode (ELM) control are developed. On the other hand, divertor solutions including advanced magnetic configurations are studied. Considerable progress has been made on both approaches, in particular in the fields of: ELM control with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), small ELM regimes, detachment onset and control, as well as filamentary scrape-off-layer transport. For example full ELM suppression has now been achieved on AUG at low collisionality with n  =  2 RMP maintaining good confinement ${{H}_{\text{H}\left(98,\text{y}2\right)}}\approx 0.95$ . Advances have been made with respect to detachment onset and control. Studies in advanced divertor configurations (Snowflake, Super-X and X-point target divertor) shed new light on SOL physics. Cross field filamentary transport has been characterised in a wide parameter regime on AUG, MAST and TCV progressing the theoretical and experimental understanding crucial for predicting first wall loads in ITER and DEMO. Conditions in the SOL also play a crucial role for ELM stability and access to small ELM regimes

Real-time plasma state monitoring and supervisory control on TCV

In ITER and DEMO, various control objectives related to plasma control must be simultaneously achieved by the plasma control system (PCS), in both normal operation as well as off-normal conditions. The PCS must act on off-normal events and deviations from the target scenario, since certain sequences (chains) of events can precede disruptions. It is important that these decisions are made while maintaining a coherent prioritization between the real-time control tasks to ensure high-performance operation. In this paper, a generic architecture for task-based integrated plasma control is proposed. The architecture is characterized by the separation of state estimation, event detection, decisions and task execution among different algorithms, with standardized signal interfaces. Central to the architecture are a plasma state monitor and supervisory controller. In the plasma state monitor, discrete events in the continuous-valued plasma state arc modeled using finite state machines. This provides a high-level representation of the plasma state. The supervisory controller coordinates the execution of multiple plasma control tasks by assigning task priorities, based on the finite states of the plasma and the pulse schedule. These algorithms were implemented on the TCV digital control system and integrated with actuator resource management and existing state estimation algorithms and controllers. The plasma state monitor on TCV can track a multitude of plasma events, related to plasma current, rotating and locked neoclassical tearing modes, and position displacements. In TCV experiments on simultaneous control of plasma pressure, safety factor profile and NTMs using electron cyclotron heating (ECI I) and current drive (ECCD), the supervisory controller assigns priorities to the relevant control tasks. The tasks are then executed by feedback controllers and actuator allocation management. This work forms a significant step forward in the ongoing integration of control capabilities in experiments on TCV, in support of tokamak reactor operation.For complete list of authors see http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aaf451</p

CVD diamond detectors for fast alpha particles escaping from the tokamak D-T plasma

Measurements of the so-called lost alpha particles escaping from thermonuclear plasma in future tokamaks (such as ITER) for energy production would be essential for monitoring the energy balance in these devices. The detection would have to be carried out in a harsh environment (with high nuclear radiation fluxes, high temperature, etc.), which limits the use of common semiconductors for charged particle detection. Diamond seems to be an attractive material for alpha particle detectors in these conditions. In this paper an analysis of properties of a diamond detector for spectrometric alpha measurements is reported. A high purity CVD (chemical vapour deposition) single crystal diamond detector was used, fabricated for this dedicated application by the Diamond Detector Ltd. The energy calibration was carried out using a triple alpha particle isotope source, AMR33 (239Pu, 241Am, 244Cm). A very good energy resolution, ca. 20 keV at ca. 5.5 MeV had been obtained, which is comparable to that of the silicon detector. The linearity of the diamond detector amplitude response to the alpha particle energy was analyzed with the use of mono-energetic (0.4–2 MeV) ion beam from a Van de Graaff accelerator. Results of the measurements using the AMR33 source deviate at most 30 keV from the calibration line obtained in this way

Finite Larmor radii effects in fast ion measurements as demonstrated using neutron emission spectrometry of JET plasmas heated with 3 rd harmonic ICRF

Abstract This paper demonstrates how the finite Larmor radii (FLR) of fast ions can affect fast ion measurements by studying data from the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR. Neutron spectra were calculated from a model of the fast ion velocity distribution for a JET experiment with 3 rd harmonic ICRF heating of deuterium beams. It was found that FLR effects need to be considered to get a good description of the data, if the Larmor radius of the fast ions are comparable to the width of the field of view of the instrument. This applies not only to results from neutron spectrometry but also to other types of fast ion diagnostics